The present disclosure relates generally to electronic notification systems, and more particularly, to providing location-based notifications.
Various devices exist to aid individuals in the organization and reminder of tasks to be performed. For example, personal notes and post-its placed on refrigerator doors, calendars, and the like, help to remind individuals of tasks to be accomplished. Schedule books and personal organizers also help individuals keep track of time-sensitive tasks and appointments. If electronic calendars and organizers are used, users may be electronically notified via the device's alarm or notification process when it is time to carry out a particular task or appointment.
If a task is not time-sensitive, individuals often place such a task in a separate to-do list. Typical tasks entered into a non-time-sensitive to-do list include, for example, buying a particular article at a particular store, stopping by the bank, going to the post office, going to the dry-cleaner, and running other types of errands. Whether such a to-do list is maintained manually or electronically, the individual must make an effort to check the list in order to not forget a particular task that needs to be accomplished. Failure to check the to-do list at a particular time and be reminded of the task might cause inefficient management of the individual's time. For instance, an individual who is heading to the grocery store might forget to stop by the bank which is on the way to the grocery store. This might cause the individual to waste additional time to retrace his or her steps to make the visit to the bank, or to forego this task completely. In either case, the individual has made ineffective use of his or her time.
Another issue has to do with the individual having to create a to-do list and planning an execution sequence ahead of time. This is not always practical as an individual might remember that dry cleaning is ready to be picked up when driving by the dry cleaning store. It might not always be practical for the individual to stop, and as such, the individual may desire to add the dry cleaning stop to his or her to-do list. As an example, a parent driving a child to a soccer practice may pass the dry cleaning store and make a mental note to stop and retrieve some suits that were recently dropped off at the dry cleaning store. The parent cannot stop immediately because of the more time-pressing task of dropping the child off at the soccer field in time for the start of soccer practice. After dropping off the child, the parent may or may not remember to retrieve the suits on the return trip. It would be desirable for the parent to be able to easily request a notification, or to add a to-do list item to a task list, that would provide a reminder to pick up the suits the next time that he or she is in the vicinity of the dry-cleaning store.